Lake Naivasha is a beautiful freshwater lake, fringed by thick papyrus. The lake is almost 13kmsacross,but its waters are shallow with an average depth of five meters. Lake area varies greatly according to rainfall, with an average range between 114 and 991 sq kms. At the beginning of the 20th Century, Naivasha completely dried up and effectively disappeared. The resulting open land was farmed, until heavy rains a few years later caused the lake to return to existence, swallowing up the newly established estates.

Afternoon wind and storms can cause the Lake to become suddenly rough and produce high waves. For this reason, the local Maasai christened the Lake Nai’posha meaning ''rough water'', which the British later miss-spelt as Naivasha. The lake and its surrounds are rich in natural bounty, and the fertile soils and water supply have made this one of Kenya’s prime agricultural regions.

Much of the lake is surrounded by forests of the yellow barked Acacia Xanthophlea, known as the yellow fever tree. These forests abound with bird life, and Naivasha is known as a world class birding destination.

The waters of the lake draw a great range of game to these shores. Giraffes wander among the acacia, Buffalo wallow in the swamps and Colobus monkeys call from the treetops while the Lakes large hippo populations sleep the day out in the shallows.

The region surrounding the Lake is well worth exploring. There are two smaller lakes nearby, Oloidien, and Sonachi, a bright green cater lake.

Hell’s Gate National Park lies beside the lake. This Park was named for its pair of massive red tinged cliffs framing a geothermically active interior of steam vents and bubbling springs. The park is home to a profusion of plains game and birdlife. Walking is permitted, making it ideal for hiking, biking, and rock climbing.

Boat trips on the lake are widely available, and it is a great way to spend an afternoon or morning. Sunsets are always stunning, with the haunting call of a Fish Eagle high over the Lake bringing the day to a perfect end!

Masai Mara National Reserve

Located in south-western Kenya, bordering Serengeti National Park, the Masai Mara is Kenya's finest wildlife sanctuary. The wildlife is abundant and the gentle rolling grasslands ensure that animals are never out of sight. Birds too are prolific, including migrant birds and birds of prey.

The climate is gentle, rarely too hot and well-spread rainfall year round. Between July and October, when the great wildebeest migration is in the Mara the sensation is unparalleled. After exhausting the grazing in Tanzania's northern Serengeti, a large number of wildebeest and zebra enter the Mara around the end of June drawn by the sweet grass raised by the long rains of April and May. It is estimated that more than half a million wildebeest enter the Mara and are joined by another 100,000 from the Loita Hills east of the Mara. Driving in the midst of these great herds is an unimaginable experience.

Once the Mara grass has been devoured and when fresh rain in Tanzania has brought forth a new flush there, the herds turn south, heading back to Serengeti and the Ngorongoro plains. There the young are dropped in time to grow sufficiently strong to undertake the long march north six months later.

The Maasai live within the dispersal area with their stock but centuries of close association with the wildlife have resulted in an almost symbiotic relationship where wildlife and people live in peace with one another. The first sight of this park is breathtaking.

Apart from the better-known species, rare ones can also be found such as the roan antelope, Bat-eared foxes and topi. The combination of a gentle climate, scenic splendour and untold numbers of wildlife makes the Masai Mara National Reserve Kenya's most popular inland destination.

Mkomazi Game Reserve

Visited by few, Mkomazi Game Reserve encompasses over 1,200 square miles in northeast Tanzania and lies between Mt. Kilimanjaro and the Indian Ocean. Mkomazi is adjacent to Kenya’s Tsavo National Park and together the two areas comprise one of the largest protected wilderness ecosystems in Africa.

In 1988, with Mkomazi on the brink of ecological disaster due to overgrazing, burning and indiscriminate hunting and poaching, the Tanzanian government asked renowned conservationist Tony Fitzjohn to reclaim the reserve. Since then, there has been a remarkable recovery in the numbers of elephant, lion, hyena, leopard, cheetah, impala, eland, oryx and lesser kudu, with steady increases in the buffalo, zebra, giraffe and kongoni populations. The park boasts 78 kinds of mammals and over 400 bird species. The endangered wild dog or African wild dog has also been introduced to the reserve.

Mkomazi is a unique area, both for its density and variety of wildlife, and upgrading of its status to a national park has been proposed as early as next year. The reserve is currently maintained by the Tony Fitzjohn/George Adamson African Wildlife Preservation Trust, which also helps maintain Kora National Park in Kenya. The trust founded and manages a 30 square mile rhino sanctuary, home to a founder population of eight rhinos. The sanctuary is the first of its kind in Tanzania. The trust also manages a captive breeding and translocation program for African hunting dogs, established in 1995, the first of its kind in East Africa. The dogs are separated into four breeding compounds to yield maximum and viable genetic diversity. Additionally, an extensive veterinary program is underway to establish their immunity to disease. Together with the Tanzanian government a planned reintroduction program is now in progress.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area

The Ngorongoro Crater is often called ‘Africa’s Eden’ and the ‘8th Natural Wonder of the World,’ a visit to the crater is a main drawcard for tourists coming to Tanzania and a definite world-class attraction. Within the crater rim, large herds of zebra and wildebeest graze nearby while sleeping lions laze in the sun. At dawn, the endangered black rhino returns to the thick cover of the crater forests after grazing on dew-laden grass in the morning mist. Just outside the crater’s ridge, tall Masaai herd their cattle and goats over green pastures through the highland slopes, living alongside the wildlife as they have for centuries.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area includes its eponymous famous crater, Olduvai Gorge, and huge expanses of highland plains, scrub bush, and forests that cover approximately 8300 square kilometres. A protected area, only indigenous tribes such as the Masaai are allowed to live within its borders. Lake Ndutu and Masek, both alkaline soda lakes are home to rich game populations, as well as a series of peaks and volcanoes and make the Conservation Area a unique and beautiful landscape. Of course, the crater itself, actually a type of collapsed volcano called a caldera, is the main attraction. Accommodation is located on its ridges and after a beautiful descent down the crater rim, passing lush rain forest and thick vegetation, the flora opens to grassy plains throughout the crater floor. The game viewing is truly incredible, and the topography and views of the surrounding Crater Highlands out of this world. This truly magical place is home to Olduvai Gorge, where the Leakeys discovered the hominoid remains of a 1.8 million year old skeleton of Australopithecus boisei, one of the distinct links of the human evolutionary chain.

In a small canyon just north of the crater, the Leakeys and their team of international archaeologists unearthed the ruins of at least three distinct hominoid species, and also came upon a complete series of hominoid footprints estimated to be over 3.7 million years old. Evacuated fossils show that the area is one of the oldest sites of hominoid habitation in the world. The Ngorongoro Crater and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area are without a doubt some of the most beautiful parts of Tanzania, steeped in history and teeming with wildlife. Besides vehicle safaris to Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge, and surrounding attractions, hiking treks through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area are becoming increasingly popular options. Either way you choose to visit, the Crater Highlands are an unforgettable part of the Tanzanian experience.

Saadani is where the beach meets the bush. The only wildlife sanctuary in East Africa to boast an Indian Ocean beachfront, it possesses all the attributes that make Tanzania’s tropical coastline and islands so popular with European sun-worshippers. Yet it is also the one place where those idle hours of sunbathing might be interrupted by an elephant strolling past, or a lion coming to drink at the nearby waterhole!Protected as a game reserve since the 1960s, in 2002 it was expanded to cover twice its former area. The reserve suffered greatly from poaching prior to the late 1990s, but recent years have seen a marked turnaround, due to a concerted clampdown on poachers, based on integrating adjacent villages into the conservation drive.

Today, a surprisingly wide range of grazers and primates is seen on game drives and walks, among them giraffe, buffalo, warthog, common waterbuck, reedbuck, hartebeest, wildebeest, red duiker, greater kudu, eland, sable antelope, yellow baboon and vervet monkey.

Herds of up to 30 elephants are encountered with increasing frequency, and several lion prides are resident, together with leopard, spotted hyena and black-backed jackal. Boat trips on the mangrove-lined Wami River come with a high chance of sighting hippos, crocodiles and a selection of marine and riverine birds, including the mangrove kingfisher and lesser flamingo, while the beaches form one of the last major green turtle breeding sites on mainland Tanzania.